Tag Archives: fitfluential

So, last night my friend Keith made us the most incredible dinner ever….

mushroom filled potato ravioli…

FROM SCRATCH!

He comes from a long line of italians who looove to cook, and has grown up on homemade pasta. So, as this didn’t seem like a huge deal to him, my jaw was practically dropped to the floor the entire time I watched his beautiful pasta making in progress. It was as delicious as it looks! And definitely makes me want to attempt my own at some point.

Deeeelish!

Training Day 2: when I hopped on the treadmill this morning I did not think there was ANY way I’d be able to run 3 miles… I was feeling tired and unmotivated, but once I started going I quickly got into a grove and kept going with it. Although I was a little bit slower today than yesterday, Im still just proud I kept going!

I followed my run with 15 minutes on the elliptical and a 7 minute circuit found on a new app I just downloaded called 7-minute workout! It’s a great one! It runs you through a series of 12 exercises, 30 seconds each. Its nice because you aren’t stuck doing the same thing for too long. Which if you’re anything like me, is very important. I get so bored so easily! So this workout was fabulous.

I headed off to work, coming back home around 12:30 to eat lunch. Yes, this photo is of my lunch, not breakfast. Do you ever have days where you just crave certain things? Well, lately it has been cinnamon life. I am a huge cereal lover, and sometimes you just gotta listen to your body. So, breakfast for lunch it was!

When I got home from work I was starving. I wanted something fast, easy and healthy…sooo…what do you know?! Breakfast again! I love brinner. So much. I scrambled up some egg whites & spinach, with a side of some carrots, celery & hummus. For a sweet treat I concocted together a sweet greek yogurt dip and dipped apple slices & strawberries in it. Yum!! Then obviously I mayyy have just had to have half a slice of the banana bread I made this weekend 🙂 It all hit the spot.

No really, if I had to choose 5 foods to live on for the rest of my life, it’d be towards the very tippy top of that list. What’s better than a piece of warm, gooey bread? Especially when it’s lower calorie! This bread is amazing. I feel like when I put fruit in anything I make, it automatically makes it healthy, but this recipe has a few swaps that make it healthier than your standard homemade or store bought bread, and it tastes just as delicious!

What you’ll need:

2 eggs

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

2 bananas

1/2 cup blueberries

1/3 cup pecans (or whatever nut you like, this is optional I just like a little crunch in my bread)

You know when you eat something reallllllly good? And for the whole entire week you can’t get your mind off that one thing? Welp. I had a baaad case of that. My boyfriend & I went out to dinner at Olive Garden on Tuesday and he ordered Chicken Gnocchi Soup with his meal, and naturally I stole a few, errr maybe 5, bites (mostly of the gnocchi, yum!) I’ve been dreaming of this soup ever since! So, thanks to good ol’ Pinterest (so obsessed. It’s a problem) I found a great copycop recipe that is healthier than the original recipe. Happy day!

I’m not much of a pasta fan. Every once in a while I’ll crave it, but other than that I could probably give it up altogether. (Don’t worry, I dont even have an ounce of Italian in my blood.) HOWEVER, I absolutely adore gnocchi. It’s something I just recently discovered existed a few years ago. Isnt is weird that some people are SO familiar with some foods that other people haven’t even tried/heard of? My friend and I were having a conversation about her favorite childhood meals, and one of hers was Stromboli. I found this so funny because I didn’t try my first Stromboli until I was in my 20’s! But it was totally a staple in her childhood. So funny!

1. Saute the onion, celery, garlic, carrot in oil over medium heat until onion is translucent.
2. Add chicken, chicken stock, half and half, salt and pepper, thyme. Heat to boiling, then add gnocchi. Gently boil for 4 minutes, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add spinach and cook for another 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted.
4. (Heat to boiling and add cornstarch dissolved in 1-2 Tbsp water at this point if you want a thicker soup.).
5. Ladle into bowls and serve!

This weekend i came home to visit my dad for his birthday! Some relaxing time at home with the family is exactly what I needed. Ice cream cake + pumpkin coffee + my puppy Moe makes for a pretttty wonderful Friday 🙂

One happy birthday boy!

Have you guys seen these?! My dad got a Keurig for his birthday and we’ve all been obsessed with it since. He bought 18 pumpkin spice K-cups, and I think I maaaay be responsible for the majority of them being gone already! GIMME ALL THE PUNKIN!

I didn’t have many crazy plans this weekend and i was toootally okay with that.

Saturday started off with a shhhweaty workout at my favorite LA fitness gym. I was feeling a little A.D.D. so i played musical machines! I jumped from machine to machine, doing 10-15 minutes on each before switching to the next. I started with a warmup mile run on the treadmill, followed by 15 minutes on the stairmaster and 15 minutes on the elliptical alternating between resistance 10 and 12 every few minutes (while watching the miley cyrus story on MTV. While I wouldn’t have watched this outside the gym, Im not even gonna lie, it really kept my attention and made my workout fly by. Ha!)

I followed my 30ish minutes of random cardio with strength training circuits. I started with this wonderful workout I found online. I love it! It was fun, challenging, and kept me going. I felt it heavy on the abs, but I liked that about it! This is definitely a workout i will do on off-days from the gym.

Last night I had a great time catching up with my college roommate, eating pizza & drinking wine. Although I am sad I didn’t have a wild halloween party to dress up for, this is definitely my ideal chill saturday night 🙂

Today I decided to try out a few recipes i have been meaning to try for awhile!

PESTO HUMMUS

Just to let you know, I am addicted to hummus. No, like…really addicted. I have 2 tubs of it (usually family sized) in my fridge at all times. Like, no matter what. I put it on everything, including just eating it by the spoonful. This recipe will be eaten the same way! I love pesto, I love hummus, why not mix the 2? It turned out wonderfully! Simple, 3 ingredients, cant go wrong!

All you need is:• 1 can chickpeas• 2 tbsp pesto• 1/4 cup tahini sauce

ALMOND BUTTER

I recently discovered Justin’s almond butter and my life hasn’t been the same since. I have always been a huge peanut butter lover, but holy cow — almond butter!? Does it get any better than that? I think not.

I tried my own by simply roasting 2 cups of raw almonds (I seasoned them a bit with cinnamon & salt first) for 10 minutes then placing in a food processor.

I had to split the recipe in half and do it twice because my processor is small, but it all worked out! Once the almonds were starting to get grainy and more liquidy (is that a word?!) I added honey & cinnamon.

Mixed it all up for about 10-15 more minutes and voila! Almond butter! It is sososos delicious, and i cannot believe how easy it was! I want to try different variations of flavors next.

Now time to finish up some laundry and make my journey back to my apartment to get ready for this week. Have a great, lazy Sunday!

Kale Chips! My original obsession with kale chips all started at Trader Joes. They have the BEST kale chips. So, I decided to make this recipe myself. They make for a delicious, crunchy, salty snack. Super healthy, too!

Happy Sunday, ya’ll! Tonight as I sit in bed, sippin’ my hot chocolate, with the aroma of cinnamon and vanilla candles around me, I feel quite accomplished and satisfied!

Today I woke up all ambitious about my plans for the day. I don’t know why, but as I laid in bed this morning scrolling through Instagram (don’t act like you don’t do it. No, but really, I have a problem. Like, a bad addiction), I decided I really wanted to rearrange my room. Im the kind of person who hates change, except when moving furniture/new furniture/decor is involved. So, that happened. Living alone is fine and all, until you need heavy lifting help.

Despite my built-in-heavy-lifting/using my butt to push furniture around my room today, I dragged myself to the gym for a real workout. The gym on Sundays is like, a bar on Monday night. Completely empty and weird. But, I like it. (I also like bars on Mondays). I wanted to switch my workout up a little, but not get TOO crazy (remember, I don’t like change?) so I went upstairs to the cardio theater and ran 2 miles. In the dark. While watching “Employee of the Month.” I actually reallllllly like this movie, for whatever reason. Dane Cook is hilarious. And Jessica Simpson is a terrible actress. Good combination for a giggle.

The cardio theater is cool and all, the only down fall is, ha, well, I thought I was going to fall the entire time. I used my handy dandy cell phone light to get myself situated ON the treadmill, and the entire time kept looking down to make sure I wasn’t about to fly off the back of it. Near death experience, really. I live my life on the edge (hahaaa, I’m not even trying to make these puns they just keep happening!)

Anyway, so it’s September. Which means it’s Fall… okay, not really. BUT its not Summer anymore (hallelujah). Annnd the weather is cooling off a bit. But most importantly, Starbucks has pumpkin spice lattes, bars are serving pumpkin beer on tap, and the grocery stores have pumpkin yogurt, cream cheese, coffee creamer, and lots of other goodies. OBSESSED. SO OBSESSED.

• Pumpkin spice cream cheese… holy punnnkin’. I was eating it with my finger the second I walked in my door. What? no I wasn’t…thats…gross…….(yes i was.)

Things Im loving this week:

• THIS SMOOTHIE, MAH GAH. From Cup O Joe. It is a Vanilla, honey, banana smoothie and it is SOOO good! Ive had like 3 in the last 2 weeks and Im really not sorry about it.

• Foodles. Because I am a child. And if loving Disney til forever is wrong, I don’t want to be right. Also, these are delicious and a quick, fast snack. I maaaay have finished it on my way home from the store….

• Victorias Secret workout clothes. I just recently bought these running capris and this top, and I love them! So comfy and just darn wonderful.

• Breadless Sammiches. (Or unwiches as Jimmy John calls them.) Or Lettuce Tacos…Basically putting things I would normally put on a sammich, into a romaine leaf. I dont always have the time to chop up veggies for a salad, so this is essentially like eating a salad just in a different form. I even put cottage cheese in one for a post work-out snack. Delicious, easy, and fun to eat!

• Fall things 🙂 Sorry for the selfie, but I was really excited to bust out my scarf and sperrys this week!